Synopses & Reviews
From the celebrated coauthor of the Nero Blanc Crossword Puzzle Mysteries comes this elegant and richly nuanced new series debut in the tradition of The Alienist, Maisie Dobbs, and Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Intrigue, passion, and murder surround the suspicious disappearance of Philadelphia financier Lemuel Beale in the winter of 1842. A victim of accidental drowning, according to the local constabulary, Beale leaves a sinister legacy of political and financial scheming---and a troubled heiress, his daughter, Martha, his only child. Martha Beale is unmarried at twenty-six, in an era when women are expected to become brides before turning twenty. Normally sheltered and shy, she instigates a search for her father, and in so doing, develops a romantic attachment to Thomas Kelman, an assistant to Philadelphia's mayor---and a man whose business is homicide investigation. The inquiry into Lemuel's disappearance uncovers connections between the city's most affluent and most destitute: an escaped inmate from the infamous Eastern State Penitentiary; the freed African-American prisoner, Ruth; the ritual slayings of several young girl prostitutes; and Eusapio Paladino, a conjurer and necromancer who claims to communicate with the dead. Written with exquisite historical detail and fast-paced intrigue, The Conjurer is a thrilling start to an exceptional new series.
Review
"May attract readers who loved Caleb Carr's attention to detail in
The Alienist and Jacqueline Winspear's appealing sleuth, Maisie Dobbs."---
Library Journal"Masterful storytelling...transports readers to 1842--complete with sights, sounds, and a narrative that rings true to the period."---Rhys Bowen, author of In Dublin's Fair City
"An intricately orchestrated narrative....Biddle wonderfully evokes the color and culture of the time."---Publishers Weekly "Fresh and believable. Biddle knows her manners and her city, and shows both to great advantage."---Cleveland Plain Dealer
Synopsis
Intrigue, passion, and murder surround the suspicious disappearance of famed Philadelphia financier Lemuel Beale in the winter of 1842. As his daughter and only child, Martha searches for her father. She begins to develop a romantic attachment to Thomas Kelman, an assistant to the mayor who's been assigned to the case. Kelman has also been investigating the ritual slayings of several young women; a likely suspect appears to be the renowned conjurer and clairvoyant Eusapio Paladino. Could there be a connection between the two cases?
About the Author
A member of one of Philadelphia's oldest families, Cordelia Frances Biddle cowrote Murder at San Simeon with Patricia Hearst and writes the popular Nero Blanc crossword puzzle mysteries with her husband Steve Zettler. This is her first novel in the Martha Beale mystery series; her second, Deception's Daughter, is forthcoming soon from St. Martin's Minotaur.